Driving
down the road the other day, searching on my car radio for a station reporting
weather conditions as it was raining out and freezing at the same time,
I came across Tony Snow discussing with a female guest the recent revelation
that President Bush had authorized the National Security Agency (NSA)
to eavesdrop on American citizens post-9/11. Snow and his female guest
saw no problem with this, claiming that conservatives support their president.

First
of all, no true conservative would ever support President Bush’s actions.
Not in a million years. Neo-cons, people who claim to be conservative
but aren’t — and those falling into the category of the controlled opposition,
now that’s a different story.

People
like Tony Snow who think President Bush’s actions are somehow justified
in the name of keeping the American people “safe” in post-9/11 America
are naïve and display a decided lack of historical perspective.

All
the American people need do, to see how preposterous this claim is, is
to look north and look south, at the open borders to Canada and Mexico.
In so doing, it is obvious the American people are no safer today than
they were on or before 9/11.

Crossing
the border from Canada and Mexico into the United States are thousands
of illegal aliens, on a daily basis. No one is screening those illegal
aliens; no one, including the Border Patrol and U.S. Immigration, knows
how many criminals and terrorists are among those who have crossed those
open borders.

Almost
daily now, we hear of yet another illegal alien arrested for committing
a crime in the United States. Most of these crimes are not petty crimes
but fall in the realm of brutal homicide. It is ignorant to believe, given
the number of illegal alien criminals who have crossed the open borders,
that terrorists have not entered this country in the same manner.

It was
not long ago that three terrorists were actually caught trying to cross
illegally from Mexico into the United States. We didn’t hear about it
on the main-stream media. We had to learn of it through internet sources
other than the main-stream media. Why was that? Why didn’t the mainstream
media report on those three terrorists caught at the border with Mexico?

Could
it be because such would obviously clue the American people to the fact
that the Patriot Act is not a law to protect the American people but another
law to take away the rights and freedoms of the American people?

It would
appear so. Repeatedly we hear the mainstream media inserting the clip
in the local media broadcast from some airline passenger gushing about
how the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) screeners are there,
and they don’t mind the inconvenience of being searched and having their
luggage searched, so they will be “safe.” These people delude themselves
in the face of the reality that the TSA screeners themselves have been
shown sorely lacking in the integrity department.

Granted
an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. However when the preventative
measures infringe on the rights of law-abiding Americans, they are not
preventive; they move America one step closer to a police state.

In the
words of John Locke, “The end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but
to preserve and enlarge freedom.”

This
should be the measuring stick of every law passed in this country — does
it preserve and enlarge freedom or does it abolish or restrain the rights
of law-abiding citizens?

Quite
obviously, the Patriot Act and all the rest of the “measures to ensure
our safety” in post-9/11 America fall into the category of abolishing
and restraining — to take away the rights and freedoms of the law-abiding
American citizens.

But
Americans have been desensitized to the lose of their rights — gradually
people have become inured to the idea that the government will take care
of their every need, keep them safe, that the government is there in their
best interests. The list of laws falling into this genre is too long to
list.

Prior
to 9/11, even 100 years ago, America had the mechanism needed to deal
with any terrorist entering or committing crimes in this country. That
mechanism is called rule by law.

But
when we have a judicial system that is not about rule by law but about
rule by man according to his own passions and prejudices (democracy),
the result is what we are seeing: more and more laws intended to keep
people “safe” but that, in reality, further infringe on the rights and
freedom of law-abiding citizens while doing nothing to impede the criminal.
Whatever the intent, such laws have placed America on the slippery slope
to a police state.

Now
we have President Bush adamantly and angrily proclaiming his right to
authorize illegal wire taps of American citizens in the name of “safety.”
Ask yourself this — if Bush can do this today, in the name of keeping
Americans safe, what can and will he do tomorrow?

Absolute
power corrupts absolutely. Trying to justify Bush’s actions in the name
of keeping Americans safe is not only ignorant and misplaced, but dangerous.

What
follows is an e-mail sent to President Bush, cc’d to my Washington State
Senators and Representative. It is our duty to let our voices be heard.

As we
near the day we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, claims
that you are a born-again Christian somehow wring hollow. What Christian
would make the remarks concerning the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights
that you have reportedly made? The Constitution of the United States is
not simply a piece of paper, this was a document hotly debated by very
learned men; that was constructed to ensure the American people the greatest
amount of freedom to govern themselves. The U.S. Constitution and Bill
of Rights came out of the blood of those who fought and died to end the
tyranny of England.

If,
as it has been reported, you spoke of this founding document in such disparaging
terms, such in my mind is an act of treason.

I find
it commendable that you finally owned up to going into Iraq waving the
flag of false pretenses. Saddam Hussein is a dictator? That doesn’t fall
within your jurisdiction, President Bush. America had and has no business
in Iraq. If the Iraqi people did not like Saddam Hussein it was their
place to get rid of him, not ours. We have no business in Iraq and you
had no business sending American troops into that country. Now that we
are there you have no qualms about the lives lost there in the name of
saving face; your face.

You
speak of the “safety of America”. You insult our intelligence, Mr President.
The American people are watching as illegal aliens of every sort and description,
criminals and terrorists included, cross our open borders, north and south,
on a daily basis. Yet you have done nothing meaningful to staunch the
flow. If you have no credibility when it comes to speaking of safety in
post-9/11 America, you need look no further than the mirror. If more Americans
die because you have failed to secure our borders, the fault is yours
and yours alone.

Last
week it was disclosed that you have allowed the unauthorized wire tapping
of American citizens. You say this is for “our safety.” Again, Mr President,
those open borders belie that claim.

We need
the Patriot Act to protect our freedoms? No we don’t. The Patriot Act
hasn’t and won’t stop one terrorist from crossing those open borders —
north or south. All the Patriot Act does is stomp on the rights of law-abiding
American citizens.

With
all due respect, personally, Mr President, I find your actions with regard
to 9/11, Iraq, the borders, the wire taps, personally offensive. History
has repeatedly demonstrated that a people willing to give up their rights
for security will, in the end, lose both.

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Our
country is not safer, for all the speechifying and anger coming out of
your office, than it was on or before 9/11. Our country is, however, a
whole lot closer to a police state.

If you
are the Christian you proclaim to be, it would behoove you to spend a
lot more time on your knees seeking God’s guidance and forgiveness.

Mother and wife, Stuter has spent the past ten
years researching systems theory with a particular emphasis on education.
She home schooled two daughters, now grown and on their own. She has worked
with legislators, both state and federal, on issues pertaining to systems
governance and education reform. She networks nationwide with other researchers
and citizens concerned with the transformation of our nation. She has
traveled the United States and lived overseas.

We
need the Patriot Act to protect our freedoms? No we don’t. The Patriot
Act hasn’t and won’t stop one terrorist from crossing those open borders
— north or south. All the Patriot Act does is stomp on the rights of law-abiding
American citizens.